Roseau, Dominica, July 29: Half-centuries from Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful trumped a maiden ODI hundred from Travis Dowlin, and inspired Bangladesh to a three-wicket victory over West Indies in the second ODI on Tuesday to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series.

Shakib, the Bangladesh captain, struck 65 from 61 balls to earn the man of the match award, and Ashraful scored 64 from 77 balls, as the Tigers successfully chased 275 for victory in the match at Windsor Park. Left-hander Abdur Razzak sealed the result with six balls to spare, when he top-edged a pull at a short, wide ball from Dave Bernard Jr to third man for four.

It was Bangladesh’s highest successful run chase in more than 200 ODIs, and the victory followed their first-ever against West Indies by 52 runs on Sunday at the same venue.

"I can’t explain the feeling," said Shakib. "The boys have tried their best. The team has been supportive throughout the series, and so have the support staff, and we have done well.

"This was a good win though. It was much tougher. They really tested us, and they played our spinners really well."

The series concludes on Friday at Warner Park in St. Kitts, where the two sides will also contest a Twenty20 International on Sunday. "We thought that 274 was a brilliant score," said West Indies captain Floyd Reifer.

"Travis played really, really well for his hundred. We knew coming into the game with five bowlers we were taking a risk, and it did not help that we lost three of our bowlers at critical stages.

"There have been a lot of positives we can take from this series. It’s a young team, and we all need to be patient with them." But the Tigers stumbled through their chase, after Dowlin struck an even, undefeated 100 to help West Indies post 274/6 from their allocation of 50 overs.

They made a steady start and then wobbled on 64/2 before Ashraful featured in two successive half-century stands that stabilised the innings and put Bangladesh firmly on course. — AFP

Scores: West Indies 274/5 in 49 overs (Dowlin 100 n.o, Smith 44) lost to Bangladesh 276/7 in 50 overs (Shakib 65, Ashraful 64)